Improvement in cars for transportation of coal



L. MYERS.

Freight Car.

No. 8,177, Patented June 24, 1851.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAURENCE MYERS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 8, l 77, dated June 24,1851.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LAURENCE MYEEs, of the city of Philadelphia, in thecounty of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Cars for the Transportationof Coal, Stone,Lime, Grain, or other Material upon Railroads; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part thereof,in which- Figure 1 represents a side view of the car with one of thecylinders in section,.taken through the red line 00a: of Fig. 2. Fig. 2represents a top view with the doors of one of the cylinders thrownopen, the doors of the other being closed.

Similar letters in the several figures represent the same parts.

The nature of my invention consists in one, two, or more metalliccylinders, which are adjusted in a frame, so as to be guided by it, andwhich cylinders have flanged rims firmly secured to them at such pointsupon the cylinders as will adapt them to the width of the railroad-trackupon which they are to run, and upon which flanged rimsthe cylinder andthe material contained therein revolve, the material being kept in placewhile the car is in motion by the centrifugal force and prevented fromfalling orrolling while in the act of stopping or starting by apartition or partitions in said cylinder.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the same with reference to the draw- In a metalliccylinder A, of any suit-able length and diameter, and which may beconstructed like the shell of a steam-boiler and be hooped to give itthe required strength, I arrange the rims B B at such points upon saidcylinder as will adapt it for the track of. the railroad upon which itis intended to be used, said rims being firmlybolted orriveted to saidcylinders and having their tread slightly conical for the purpose ofpreventing friction in turning or running around the curves upon saidrailroad. On these rims are cast the flanges C, after the usual mannerof flanges upon car-wheels, said rims projecting several inches from theperiphery of the cylinders, for the double purpose of raising thecylinders above any slight obstructions in the railroadtrack, as well asto give them the necessary strength, the waist or center portion of thesaid rims being contracted, as seen at D, Fig. 2, to give them lightnesswith strength, and forming in shape afigure somewhat in appearance likea T-rail. A section of said rim is shown in Fig. 2, where the rim isrepresented as broken for that purpose.

Through the center of the cylinder longitudinally is a partition E,which divides the cylinder into two apartments, (one partition onlybeing shown, but any desired number may be used, either horizontal orvertical with the plane of the cylinder,) which partition, when thetrain is stopping or starting, prevents the contents of the cylinderfrom being put in rotary motion by its gravity when the centrifugalforce is not sufficient to keep it in place, said partition also tendingpartially to preserve the center of gravity of the load by dividing thevacancy in the cylinder, one half being above and the other half belowthe center ofthe cylinder. It has been ascertained by actual experimentthat however full the cylinders may be at starting the material willpack by the motion of the cylinders, so as to leave space, and when thecylinder is divided into apartments these spaces will be above and belowthe center of the cylinder, and by thus distributing the spaces the loadis properly equalized in the cylinder, allowing said cylinder to moveoff more easily at starting than if the Weight was at the bottom of thecylinder and the vacant space at the top. The wearing away of the coalby abrasion has been also found by actual experiment to be three-fourthsless than what is usually allowed for wastage in that article conveyedin ordinary cars.

IVhen the train is running at the usual speed attained on railroads, thematerial in the cylinders is gradually forced against its innerperiphery by its centrifugal tendency and there remains more at restthan it would be by the ordinary motion of cars as now constructed.

On the heads of the cylinders are fastened the journals F F, which restand work in boxes placed on or underneath the frame G,

2 1 eat? as may be desired, and as these journals only bear the Weightof the frame there is very little friction upon them, and consequentlyvery little oil Will be required, which in the management of a railroadis a heavy item in its expenditures.

H H, &c., represent the doors of the cylinders, which may extend theWhole length of the cylinder, and which are hinged in the usualmannerand open outward, and through which the cylinders are loaded andunloaded. Then the cylinders are filled, the doors are closed and firmlysecured by a rod 1, running through the rims on the cylinder, but may befastened in any other substantial manner. A brake may also be applied byforcing a wedgeshaped piece of timber between the rims on the cylindersby means of a lever, as in cars of ordinary construction.

Among the advantages this mode of constructin g cars possesses overthose of ordinary construction are first, that the large diameter of theWheels will present less obstruction or resistance to the locomotive;second, removing the Weight of the load from thejournals and throwing itdirectly upon the Wheels saves the Wear of the journals by the frictionupon them, and also the use of oil, which is a heavy item in theexpenditures in using ordinary cars; third, the material conveyed intight cylinders revolving at the usual velocity attained upon railroadswill by centrifugal force remain perfectly quiet, giving a steady motionto the cars, and losing by abrasion three-fourths less than is usuallyallowed on coal carried in ordinary cars, as has been proven by actualexperiment, '(besides What coal-dust does accumulate in the cylinderwill be retained there,) and entirely preventing the dust from findingits way into the boxes and cutting or otherwise Wearing away thejournals.

Having thus fully described my invention, I Wish it to be distinctlyunderstood thatI do not claim the use of cylinders for conveyingmaterial upon common roads, as this has been done heretofore; but

What I do claim as of my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

The combination of a partition or partitions with a metallic cylinder orcylinders provided With flanged rims, as herein described, for thepurpose of carrying material in bulk on rail or other roads Where highvelocities are attained, said material being held in place bycentrifugal force While in motion and prevented from falling or rollingin the cylinder LAUREN CE MYERS.

Witnesses:

II. DoNN, A. B. STOUGHTON.

